About This Video

When neuroscientist Jim Pfaus wants to study monogamous animals, he turns to prairie voles, due to their tendency to form life bonds. Similarly, he studies rats for their polygamous tendencies. But when studying the effects of oxytocin—a chemical commonly attributed to bonding—in these supposedly polygamous lab rats, Pfaus found that the brain may not settle on having it one way over the other.

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Image courtesy of Steve Jurvetson; Recorded June 2011; Posted September 2011